Though it was not intended at the time of writing, many years later, from a detached non-possessive actor's perspective I realised that all these poems lend itself to performance. Perhaps the actor in me visualised these images as if it were a play unfolding before me where I was the narrator, the character, and the audience as well. Some of them have actually been performed on stage.

Monday, December 29, 2014

the skull on the mantlepiece . . .

dark roomsshattered, cobwebbed, window panesanda blood-red sky beyondwith the sun embedded like a lost pearlin a lava sea.claustrophobic mountainsscreaming at the clouds,"get away, get away"and all around the souls of loverscrucified like scarecrows on the withered branches of dead trees.my world where the only truth is lonelinessthe only warmth, the feverof intoxicatedinsomniaand the only eyesthe detached eyeballs in the fishtankfloatinglike sluggish spiritsamong the weeds.i ventured outa couple of times beforei still dooccasionallybut each time return to findthe dracula teeth a little sharperthe heada little morelike the skull on the mantlepiecemy friend'sogling at life with a grin.the time is drawing nearwhen you fill find another skullon the mantlepieceoglingat lifewith a grin.will you thendust the cobwebsfrom the sockets of my eyes . . . . . ?

About Me

Ex-Army Officer - Served in Allahabad and Sikkim. Spent 3 years in the mountains, where a lot of my poetry was written. Left the army for theatre and writing and ended up selling weighing machines (Avery India)for a while, and then various communication and office automation products for 21 years in Godrej. Did over 40 years of theatre alongside. Left Godrej as Regional Manager (South India) for my division, to take up full time training for corporates, using a theatre-based methodology which I developed for the benefit of my own teams in Godrej. This methodology came to be known as "CorporateTheatre". Currently doing a good deal of theatre as well as training.
paulmathew80@gmail.com